The now well-documented pollution caused by microplastics in the natural environment has generated a significant research interest. While extraction and analysis of microplastics used to dominate the literature, novel directions are now surging beyond their collection, identification, and quantification. For instance, reports on the role of microplastics as vectors for undesirable chemicals into the food chain are now appearing. Despite these important studies, many of the publications are focused on microplastics in water, studies in soil are still lagging. While it is understandable that soil’s composition and chemistry are significantly more complex compared to the water and air counterparts, understanding the faith of microplastics in soil is of paramount importance. In this presentation, we report a thermodynamic study of the interactions between selected microplastics and common clay minerals such as kaolinite. Close attention is placed to keep the constraints of the experiment within a manageable sample size, yet commonly occurring microplastics are employed to still relate the results to the field.

Thermodynamic analysis of microplastic-clay interactions

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.